Construction apprenticeships: building a new future

A new campaign is being run by the Daily Mirror newspaper to help encourage people into work across the UK, and apprenticeships are one way of doing just that.

There is a wide range of apprenticeship opportunities across the construction sector, the Get Britain Working campaign has found.

The newspaper tracked down 39,797 construction jobs that are currently available to applicants across the country, ranging from positions for skilled or highly experienced workers to those that would be suitable for school leavers who are keen to develop skills through vocational training or an apprenticeship.

While the construction sector has undoubtedly been hit hard by the recession, now is the time to concentrate on ensuring it has the right people with the right skills to ensure further economic growth for the UK. This means that young people need to be encouraged into the industry, across trades including plumbing, carpentry and bricklaying to electrical work and plastering.

The construction sector is one of the most dynamic industries, offering a skill and a trade to suit the taste of almost anyone. Large scale infrastructure developments such as the planned High Speed 2 (HS2) rail-link, which will join London and Birmingham in its first phase, and Crossrail, will need skilled workers to ensure they are completed on time and on budget.

Apprenticeships can offer young people the necessary skills to go forward to get involved with major changes to the landscape of the UK – an exciting prospect for anyone.